19 weeks out, day 3, sumo deadlifts, bench overloads, high bar squats

I was able to make it out for a team training session today. The Toronto Rex Powerlifting team gym (the Boyle's garage) was very busy today but it was great seeing everyone again and meeting Chris and Amy.

Because I would be training with spotters in a proper power rack, I brought my super katana bench shirt to see if I could get any closer to touching a weight with it. Sumo deadlift technique work and high bar squats went pretty well but I was really looking forward to seeing how the bench shirt work would go.

I worked up to a raw single with 315 and then put on the shirt. As expected, I couldn't touch 365 to a 3-board. 405 touched the 3-board but that was a struggle. 455 barely touched a 2-board so I decided to try 495 to a 1-board. I had never held 495 at arm's length before so I didn't know if it would touch, if I could lock it out if I did, or if it would tweak my shoulder. It didn't feel too heavy at lift off although it took a couple extra seconds to settle before I could start the descent. I tried to get it down to the 1-board but I was just short. Lower than a 2-board but not enough to touch the 1-board. On the plus side, I was able to press it back up pretty smoothly and there was no stress on my shoulders. I decided to quit there since I haven't been doing any overload work and didn't want to press my luck. At this point, I think I'd need to use 545 to touch my chest and I'm not at all certain I could press that back up.

Not sure what I'll do in the future with respect to shirted bench pressing but as uncomfortable as it is, it's still quite a thrill ride and it's tough for me to resist the urge to spend more time on it. If I can get in some more training, I could potentially compete in the equipped bench press only meet at equipped Provincials next January.

a photographer from the Toronto Star was shooting Kinnon for an upcoming story about his participation in the Gay Games in Cleveland next month.

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